Episode 2.1
Synopsis Nick Cutter grapples over the loss of Claudia Brown, while a pack of Deinonychus appear in a local shopping mall. Plot At the original anomaly site, upon realising of Claudia Brown's disappearance, Cutter desperately tries to go back through the anomaly, but Stephen and Connor hold him back and the anomaly closes before he can reach it. Cutter begins to discover much more has changed for the team as well as Claudia's disappearance: a new second in command has taken her place in the team – the oily Oliver Leek. Not only that but the team now have a headquarters: a hi-tech, highly sophisticated operations base called the Anomaly Research Centre, or ARC. No one believes Cutter when he tries to explain that the present has altered, resulting in Claudia's disappearance. In fact, they think he has gone mad (with the exception of Connor, who somewhat accepts the theory). But there is not time for idle chat as the team get a call reporting a creature incursion at a shopping mall. A young security guard at the bowling alley informs his collegue that something strange is happening - bits of bowling pins are being flung out. Assuming it to be kids messing around, the guard heads behind the bowling alley with a flashlamp and searches for the problem, he is promptly killed by a Deinonychus. His partner is soon afterwards pursued by another raptor and eventually killed. Once on site the team arm themselves with tranquilizer guns. Stephen tries to discuss his youthful affair with Helen, but Cutter is unwilling to confront the issue. While the others investigate the anomaly behind the bowling alley, Connor heads for the confectionary, only to find a hungry raptor lurking amongst the sweets and soft drinks. Despite Connor narrowly escaping with his life, Cutter remains adamant that they should capture the raptors and put them back where they belong - alive. The team face another scare when they hear what they think is the creature coming back for them - only to find it is a cleaner who has been left behind when the mall was evacuated. Cutter tasks Abby and Connor with evacuating the man, before informing Lester of the situation. Meanwhile, Lester has his own problems: Leek informs him a new public relations liason is being assigned to them in order to downplay the damage left by the creatures. Meanwhile, Cutter and Stephen are attacked by one of the raptors, but when Cutter tries to shoot it, the gun jams. Stephen accuses him of intentionally allowing the creature to kill him in revenge: a claim Cutter rebuffs on the grounds that if he wanted Stephen dead, he'd have shot him personally. The raptor attacks again, but this time, they are able to tranquilise it. In the aftermath, Cutter forgives Stephen on account of the fact he stayed to help, as opposed to galivanting through the anomalies with Helen. The pair muse on the fact they probably haven't seen the last of Helen. Elsewhere, in the mall's locker rooms, the cleaner is fatally attacked by an infant Deinonychus that Abby and Connor desperately try to capture. After an initial failure (namely shooting Abby in the leg with a tranquiliser dart), Connor manages to bring down the infant dinosaur. In an effort to catch the final raptor, Cutter and Stephen tether the infant in the hope its cries will draw the adult. The plan works (although the adult dinosaur cannibalises the infant instead of freeing it), and the raptor is tranquilised. During their battle in the mall, Cutter notices that all the radios seem to be suffering from some kind of mysterious electronic interference on the 87.6FM frequency and he suspects it to be connected to the anomalies. He realises they can now build a detector tuned to the same wavelength to locate new anomalies. Having tracked down and captured all the raptors, Cutter returns them through the anomaly...alone. Having entered the anomaly and freed the dinosaurs, who are slowly coming to, Cutter moves to walk away, but a voice behind him calls out; Stephen, having expected Cutter not to return, followed him through. They argue about his planned choice: Cutter states all he wants to do is travel through the anomalies, find out what went wrong and put it right, but Stephen convinces him to return, on account of the fact he has work to do, and the fear that he could potentially change things for the worse-even wipe out humanity- and still not get Claudia back by meddling with the anomalies. They return through the anomaly, just ahead of the raptors, who have woken and attack; one manages to grab hold of Stephen's foot but the team pull him to safety. The raptor is less lucky, and is decapitated when the anomaly closes. Upon his return to the ARC, Cutter is horrified to encounter the team's newest member; their PR manager Jenny Lewis, who is a complete doppelganger of Claudia Brown. Cast *Nick Cutter — Douglas Henshall *Abby Maitland — Hannah Spearritt *Stephen Hart — James Murray *Connor Temple — Andrew-Lee Potts *Claudia Brown / Jenny Lewis - Lucy Brown *Helen Cutter — Juliet Aubrey *James Lester — Ben Miller *Oliver Leek — Karl Theobald *Security Guard — Simon Naylor *Security Guard 2 — Anthony Adjekum *Duty Manager — Martin Miller *The Cleaner — Tim Faraday *Boy — Scott Hazell *Boy — James Bellamy Continuity *Claudia Brown disappears in Episode 1.6 but reappears as Jenny Lewis in this episode. Claudia appears in flashbacks from Cutter's memory. *Deinonychus return in Episode 2.6, Episode 2.7 and Episode 3.10. *The Wilhelm Scream returns in this episode when a security guard is killed, you hear the scream echo throughout the building. *The third Cretacous anomaly opens in this episode . Ratings 5.8 million (26%) This is the highest rating of Series 2 along with 2.5. Errors *The Deinonychus having the scale-like proto-feathers is possible, but not quite plausible. *There is some debate as to how the infant was able to get into the locker. **''May have been placed there as the 'cleaner' is in league with Helen etc. It may have been a distraction while he gets away from Connor and Abby.'' *When Stephen accuses Nick of wanting him dead, Cutter retorts by saying that if he wanted Stephen dead he could have shot him. But the guns the team carried only had tranquilisers. If Stephen was shot with a tranquiliser it would have only knocked him out, not killed him. **''The team may have had actual bullets, but they weren't used or shown on screen.'' External link * Episode Guide on itv.com http://www.itv.com/Drama/cult/Primeval/default.html 2.1, Episode